I asked Cursor to rename a function. It sent 8,400 tokens. I checked.

📰 Dev.to · GDS K S

Discover the surprising amount of work an AI assistant can do with a simple request, and why it matters for understanding AI capabilities

intermediate Published 13 May 2026

Action Steps

Ask an AI assistant to perform a simple task, like renaming a function
Monitor the AI's activity and output to understand its workflow
Analyze the amount of work done by the AI, such as the number of tokens generated
Compare the AI's output to your expectations, to identify potential areas for improvement
Adjust your requests and workflow to optimize the AI's performance and efficiency

Who Needs to Know This

Developers and AI engineers can benefit from understanding how AI assistants process requests, to optimize their workflow and improve collaboration

Key Insight

💡 AI assistants can perform a large amount of work with a single request, highlighting the need for careful monitoring and optimization